El rey burgués
The Bourgeois King
by Rubén Darío
A king surrounds himself with art, yet may not understand poetry.
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About the book
The passage tells of a king in a vast, glittering city who surrounds himself with treasures, musicians, and painters, treating art as spectacle rather than poetry. It opens with a promise of a cheerful story told on a gloomy day, and the ornate listing of luxuries reads with a wry, mocking undertone.
About the author
Rubén Darío (born Félix Rubén García Sarmiento, 18 January 1867 – 6 February 1916) was a Nicaraguan poet who initiated the Spanish-language literary movement known as modernismo, which flourished at the end of the 19th century. He had a great and lasting influence on 20th-century Spanish-language literature and journalism.
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